1 Sovereign - Edward VII (1902–1910)

One row for each year the 1 Sovereign - Edward VII was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 1902 1 Sovereign - Edward VII

The 1902 1 Sovereign - Edward VII is a circulating 1 sovereign coin issued from 1902 to 1910 in the Sovereign series, struck in 91.67% gold. It weighs 7.99g and measures 22mm across. Reverse design: St. George on horseback slaying the dragon right, date and.

Mintage figures are recorded for 9 years between 1902 and 1910, 104,770,000 coins in all. 1902 is the scarcest date, with 4,738,000 struck.

Common questions

History and design

A proclamation dated 10 December 1901, in force from 1 January 1902, set the designs for Edward VII's gold coins. Wikipedia's double sovereign article notes that the Mint chose to keep changes to a minimum, so the sovereign kept its reverse and gained only a new portrait. It was struck every year of the reign in 22 carat (.9167) gold.

Output was large. Coin Hunter gives London 104,769,568 across the nine dates, rising from 4,737,796 in 1902 to 22,379,624 in 1910. Sydney, Melbourne and Perth added between about two and five million each year, and the new Ottawa mint, opened on 2 January 1908, struck its first sovereigns that year.

George William de Saulles, engraver at the Royal Mint, modelled the bare-headed portrait of the King facing right, signed De S below the neck. The proclamation gives the legend as EDWARDVS VII D G BRITT OMN REX F D IND IMP.

The reverse is Benedetto Pistrucci's St George, armed and on horseback, attacking the dragon with a sword, with a broken spear on the ground and the date below. The Royal Mint Museum notes that Pistrucci produced the design for the new sovereigns of 1817 and that it is still in use. The edge is milled.

Varieties and errors

Matt proofs dated 1902 were struck for the coronation proof sets. Tony Clayton describes a Sydney proof of 1908 as particularly rare. No recognised mint errors are documented for this coin.

Collecting notes

The mint mark is the first thing to check. Goldsovereigns.co.uk explains that on Edward VII and George V sovereigns it sits on the ground above the centre of the date: S for Sydney, M for Melbourne, P for Perth, C for Ottawa, and none for London. The Ottawa coins have their own page as the Edward VII Ottawa sovereign.

Sovereigns vanished from circulation in Britain once the First World War began, though Wikipedia records that they remain legal tender. Clayton warns that sovereigns were extensively forged in the Middle East and that some forgeries are of good quality, so buy from a reliable source and check weight and detail on any example.